Buddhist retreats in the beautiful countryside of southern Sweden
The Guesthouse
2025 programme
The Venue
The Guesthouse is our home in the south of Sweden. From May to September 2025, we’ll be opening it up for retreats.
The property spans nearly two acres, with mature trees, a formal garden, a vegetable garden, and a small patch of woodland. We’re surrounded by open fields — in summer you’ll often see horses grazing nearby, and occasionally a few curious cows.
Accommodation
There are two main buildings:
The Main House sleeps up to five people, with two twin rooms and one single.
The Garden House sleeps four, with two twin rooms.
For those who enjoy being a little closer to nature, there’s also a bell tent tucked into the garden. It sleeps two in real beds and includes a small wood-burning stove for cooler evenings.
In early spring, we’ll begin work on a meditation room, set among the trees and separate from the accommodation — a quiet space for practice and reflection.
A Treat for the Body
We believe a retreat should nourish both body and mind. In the evenings, guests can unwind in our wood-fired hot tub, and once the meditation room is complete, it will also include a small wood-fired sauna.
Most retreats will offer optional guided qigong sessions, and there’s space and equipment available for yoga practice.
Looking ahead, we plan to create a natural swimming pool — work begins in autumn, with completion expected in 2027.
Food
We are passionate about good food — food that’s traditional, seasonal, and wherever possible, local and organic. Meals are simple but full of flavour and nourishment.
Our menu is about 95% vegetarian, occasionally including fish or wild game. Please note that we’re unable to cater for vegan diets.
Sample Menu
(coming soon)
Retreats 2026
Spring Gardening Retreat
May 9th - 16th (7 days)
Cost £200
Our gardening retreats weave together mindful work, meditation, and Dharma study. Each day includes around four hours of hands-on time in the garden—planting, weeding, and pruning—supported by short Dharma talks exploring how we can make our work part of our Buddhist practice. Alongside the garden sessions, there will be periods of meditation, reflection, and group discussion. We'll be in silence for a good part of each day. In the evenings, you can unwind and soak in the hot tub beneath the trees.
On this retreat, we’ll take inspiration from the Buddha, who often taught the Dharma through images and metaphors drawn from the natural world. Perhaps we’ll discover our own ways of seeing the garden as a living metaphor for practice in our own lives.
We offer our gardening retreats at a reduced rate, in return we appreciate your helping us to create a beautiful environment here at The Guesthouse.
Living with Ease: A Midsummer Retreat on the Four Noble Truths
June 18th - 27th (9 days)
Cost £640
Midsummer is a special time of year here in the South of Sweden. The landscape is filled with wild flowers, the garden is at it's peak and the long light evenings make the days seem endless. We'll come together in the midst of all this beauty to reflect on the Buddha’s first teaching — The Four Noble Truths. It begins with the simple truth that there is dukkha, a kind of unease woven into being human. Yet he also showed that this suffering has causes, that it can come to an end, and that there is a path leading toward peace.
We’ll have a programme of meditation, guided qigong, reflection, Dharma talks, and open discussion — with plenty of time to simply rest and unwind. After a day or two to settle in we'll go into silence, you can expect at least 6 days of silence. During this time there will be an opportunity for one to one practice reviews.
If the weather’s kind, we’ll spend most of our time outdoors, enjoying meals together in the garden. And if it rains, that’s fine too — we’ll just turn up the heat in the sauna and soak in the hot tub instead.
Open practice weeks
July 11th - 18th, 18th - 25th (7 or 14 days)
£435 or £800
You’re welcome to join for week one, week two, or settle in for the full two weeks.
Our open practice weeks are a blend of a led retreat, a solitary, and a holiday! You’re welcome to come on your own or with friends, and you’ll have the freedom to create your own rhythm and programme. You’ll have access to the meditation room, two lounges, various peaceful spots in the garden, sauna and hot tub, and of course your comfortable bedroom. We also have a small but thoughtfully chosen library of Dharma books — along with books on art, creativity, and ideas — for you to browse and enjoy during your retreat.
Unlike many retreats, there’s no work for you to do here. All your meals are prepared for you, and the washing up is taken care of too, so you can give your full attention to your own practice and rest.
After a day to settle in, we’ll spend our days in silence. Then, after dinner each night, we’ll gather over dessert for a salon — inspired by the traditional gatherings of artists, poets, and philosophers who came together to exchange ideas. For us, it’s a relaxed and open space to share what's alive in our own practice, and to draw inspiration from one another.
Beauty and Insight: A retreat on perception
August 8th - 15th (7 days)
Cost £515
This retreat is an invitation to look closely at how experience takes shape—how we see, feel, and make meaning of the world around us. Drawing on the Buddhist teaching of the Five Skandhas, we’ll explore perception not as a fixed or neutral window onto reality, but as an ongoing, interactive process—woven from sensation, memory, habit, and a sense of self that’s always in motion.
One way we speak of insight is as ‘seeing things as they really are.’ But this phrase—yathābhūtadassana in Pali—doesn’t mean seeing the world without interpretation. Instead, it invites us to notice how perception actually works: as a living, dynamic relationship between ourselves and the world. We shape the world, just as it shapes us.
When we begin to see the extent to which we are creating our world, we can begin to choose—consciously and creatively—to shape a world of beauty and meaning.
The arts offer us new and surprising windows on the world. Alongside Dharma teachings and meditation, we’ll be exploring what art, film, poetry, and music can reveal about the nature of perception. To support our explorations, there will be long periods of silence each day, and two or three days of complete silence in the middle of the week.
Autumn gardening retreat
September 5th - 12th (7 days)
Cost £200
Our gardening retreats weave together mindful work, meditation, and Dharma study. Each day includes around four hours of hands-on time in the garden—planting, weeding, and pruning—supported by short Dharma talks exploring how we can make our work part of our Buddhist practice. Alongside the garden sessions, there will be periods of meditation, reflection, and group discussion. A we'll be in silence for a good part of each day. In the evenings, you can unwind and soak in the hot tub beneath the trees.
On this retreat the we'll draw inspiration from the Zen tradition, especially Dogen, with it's emphasis on work as a spiritual practice.
We offer our gardening retreats at a reduced rate, in return we appreciate your helping us to create a beautiful environment here at The Guesthouse.
Reserve your spot
Reserve a spot on one of our 2026 retreats
There are just 8 places on each of our retreats.
Bookings open officially on January 10th, but if you would like to reserve your spot then please fill in the form opposite.
We’ll contact you in January and ask for a deposit of £80 (non refundable) to secure a booking. We’ll ask for the full amount 6 weeks before the retreat begins.
Cancellations
Cancelling more than 6 weeks before a retreat:
full refund minus the deposit.
Cancelling 4 to 6 weeks before the retreat:
If we can fill your place, full refund minus the deposit,
If we can't fill your place, half refund minus the deposit.
Cancelling less than 4 weeks before the retreat:
If we can fill your place, full refund minus the deposit,
If we can't fill your place, any refunds will be at our discretion depending on circumstances
Travel
Coming from outside Sweden -
Nearest airport is Copenhagen. Then travel by train to Tomelilla, 1.5 hours with a change in Malmö. We'll pick you up in Tomelilla at 5pm on the day the retreat starts.
For alternatives to air travel check out these options https://www.seat61.com/Denmark.htm
Coming from within Sweden -
By public transport, make your way to the train station at Tomelilla. We'll pick you up at 5pm on the day the retreat starts. Alternatively make your way to Lövestad, just a 5min drive from us and we’ll pick you up there.
If you are coming by car we’ll send directions.